Friends, family mourn loss of teen killed during prank | News

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Friends and family gathered for a candlelight vigil at Benny Craig Park to remember Adrian Broadway. The 15-year-old girl was shot early Saturday morning while riding in a car full of teenagers.

"She didn't have to go this way; she wasn't supposed to go," said Broadway's friend, 16-year-old Kortazha Williams.

Williams was one of seven people in the car with Broadway. The friends met on Friday for Taco Bell and a movie, but then they went to the home of Willie Noble on Skylark Road to pull a prank on a friend.

"It was a joke. We was friends, we was gonna come over there and clean it up," Williams said.

Last Halloween, Noble's 17-year-old son had pulled his own prank. In retaliation, the group decided to cover their friend's car in eggs and leaves.

"It was supposed to be a prank; we were supposed to get up right now, and we were supposed to laugh," Williams said.

They left but then returned to the house, and that's when gunshots began to fly towards the car.

"I wrapped my hand around her, and I said 'Adrian you gonna be okay. You gonna be okay. You gonna make it," Williams said.

According to police, 48-year-old Noble fired the shots that took Broadway's life. Many have commented online, taking a side of the situation. Some have blamed Noble; while others have blamed the parents for allowing their kids to be out so late.

"I know it was late for them to be out," said Williams' mother, Charlene Clark. "They went to the movies, they went to get some Taco Bell, and they just decided to play a joke."

Clark said Noble went too far by aiming a gun at the children.

"You aimed at a vehicle with teenagers," she said. "Everybody played a role in this, and I know him, so I really just don't know what to say behind that. I'm just so sorry for everybody's loss."

As candle flames flickered in the wind, friends reflected on Broadway as a bright light in their community. They remembered her as the life of the party.

"Adrian was an outgoing person; she was goofy; she loved to play around; she loved to laugh and just be herself," said her friend Derricka Garrett.

"Live life to the fullest like Adrian did, be respectful of adults like Adrian was," said Kimberly Crutchfield, McClellan Magnet High School Cheerleading Coach.

"Seeing all of your faces around this circle right now really shows us the type of young lady she was," said Broadway's Uncle, Deritte Fernandez.

"I'm just gonna miss her all the way--miss the weekends that we had, the weekdays and all of it," said Broadway's fellow cheerleader, Laguyia Bland.